Another Lenten Friday, no meat and I don’t eat fish. The smell of fish and the thought of eating it, kind of gags me. I blame my mom, dad, and the Bengel boys, for my fish phobia. I never really called it that before, a phobia. I’ve just always told people I don’t like fish. Because I was writing this post, I decided to google “fear of eating fish”. It really is a “thing”. It’s a phobia and it has a name – ichthyophobia.
“Fear of fish or ichthyophobia ranges from cultural phenomena such as fear of eating fish, fear of touching raw fish, or fear of dead fish, up to irrational fear (specific phobia)”
I got this info from Wikipedia, so, take it for what it’s worth. Me? I’m gonna run with it. I also found a short paragraph, at allaboutcounseling.com, which states, in part: “…may stem from a childhood incident involving fish…”. That was me. I was that child. There was an incident – more than one.
My parents loved smelt. The Bengel boys, who worked at our family hardware store, loved to dip for smelt. Once a year they’d drop off one to two – 30 gallon garbage barrels full of freshly caught smelt. Mom would set up an assembly line in the kitchen for rinsing, cutting & slicing with a scissors, gutting, rinsing for a second time and putting the fish in one quart freezer containers.
Being the 5th in a family of 7 kids, I couldn’t run as fast as my 4 older sisters to get one of the “good” stations and I wasn’t allowed to use a scissors. What about the two that were younger than me? Apparently they had limited fish gutting skills. Enter: Brenda. I won’t give you the gory details; if you’ve ever cleaned fish, you know what I’m talking about. Now, visualize two garbage barrels full of fish, typically 7” long and every fish needed to be gutted. By the time we were done, you can imagine what our kitchen smelled like & don’t get me started on my hands! Then to add insult to injury; after cleaning all those fish, Mom would fry up a big ol’ bunch of them.
I think I was scarred for life. The smell of cooked fish and the thought of eating it, gagged me. On “Fish Fridays” during lent, I ate a lot of potatoes at supper time. While supper could be tough, lunch wasn’t as bad with its’ many options of grilled cheese, fried egg sandwiches, mac and cheese, egg salad and tuna fish sandwiches. Tuna fish; not thrilling, but, some days were better than others when it came to choking down a tuna sandwich. I ate a lot of potato chips to cover the taste.
I’ve told you about my fish eating challenges to get it across to you how much I really didn’t like tuna. After being diagnosed with dairy, egg and wheat allergies, I was pretty much left with the tuna fish. I had to come up with a way to make a tuna fish sandwich I could and would, actually eat.
My plan? To make it just like my chicken salad. It’s loaded with celery, onions, nuts and grapes and has great flavor. I still can’t eat it every week, but I can every couple of weeks.
Brenda’s Vegan Gluten Free Tuna Salad
2 – 4 oz. cans tuna (drained and rinsed)
2/3 cup Just Mayo
Couple sprinkles of granulated sugar (I was raised on Miracle Whip, so I like a little “sweet” in my mayo.)
Couple shots of mustard
Celery and sweet onion – Diced (or really thinly sliced, if you need to disguise them from your kids)
Sliced red grapes (You can use Craisins, if grapes are really expensive or you can’t find good looking grapes.)
Walnuts or Almonds – Sliced (or crushed if you need to disguise them from your kids)
Combine all ingredients. (Regarding the veggies, fruit and nuts – put in as much or as little as you like.) Stir until mixed well. Refrigerate.
I eat this tuna salad on Wasa Light Rye Crispbread (www.wasa-usa.com), wrapped in lettuce or on toasted Schar brand gluten free bread (www.schaer.com). Following with a few potato chips and a dill pickle is still a good idea. 😉
Thanks for stopping!
Brenda
Disclaimer:
These recipes and tips are not guaranteed to work or be safe for everyone. Allergies are extremely complicated and vary for each individual. It is still your responsibility to read labels to ensure your safety. I cannot be held liable for any ill effects from using my tips to avoid your allergies. (Sorry guys, I don’t foresee any problems, but Momma’s gotta cover her backside, ya know?) Just read your labels! Do your research!